Same deal, don't own anything.

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At first, it seemed like there was zero movement in the brightly lit laboratory, until the closet opened. Next, a mop of unruly black hair came into view, followed by the rest of the head, shoulders, and the rest of the body attached as the mysterious figure pulled off what seemed to be an invisible body stocking and hung it up. The figure sighed, then put its newly acquired items on the built-in sensor on the lab table. Striding over to the computer, it sat at the joyously padded and thankfully ergonomic desk chair and activated the computer. It punched at the keyboard for awhile, until the schematics for the device it had brought with it popped up on the terminal's flat panel monitor.

The figure looked for awhile and then smiled at the data scrolling underneath the picture of the schematics. It allowed itself to feel an amount of contentment as it contemplated what the device meant. These government agencies are so behind the times, the figure thought to itself. I stopped needing a device to do this a year ago. While the figure chuckled at the irony of calling cutting edge NASA research "behind the times", what he had thought was completely true. And as he knew that they were the only other ones who were even this far into the research, he found himself content in his situation. After all, who needs to conquer the world yourself when you could buy the people who already held it in the palms of their hands?

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Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable walked the same path through the park that they had walked a million times before, but something was different this time. Well, more than just one thing was different, but all these changes manifested themselves in but one outwardly visible sign; they were holding hands. It was a gorgeous day in Middleton, and the two teens were determined to enjoy it, especially after the lousy climate they had run into during their previous mission. Ron was dressed in his usual cargo pants and red jersey, while Kim had her favorite pink jeans and white shirt with pink heart ensemble. They were strolling leisurely when they ran into the one thing that could ruin Kim's day; her fellow cheerleader Bonnie Rockwaller.

Like Kim, Bonnie was with her boyfriend, Brick, but this couple was seated on one of the benches. Bonnie had both arms wrapped around one of Brick's very large ones, but Brick was basically ignoring Bonnie in favor of the ice cream cone he held in his other hand, which had five scoops of various flavors teetering precariously on top of it. Bonnie had also spotted Kim and was opening her mouth to say something doubtlessly snide about Ron when Brick also looked up and disengaged his arm to point at Ron and give him the thumbs up. "Yo, Stoppable," he said, "way to go on the pick-up, dude."

Ron grinned and pointed back at him. "Dude, totally," he acknowledged the big jock, then continued his walk with Kim, who had to suppress a giggle, because as soon as Brick had spoken to Ron, Bonnie's face had contorted into a sour look. She then shot a betrayed glare at her boyfriend, who had already gone back to his ice cream and was oblivious to her annoyance.

After they had passed by the other couple, Ron surprised Kim by turning to her and asking, "So, how long until they break up for good?"

Kim contemplated this for a bit as they continued walking, then came up with her reply. "Well, I know they're going to the same college to continue the whole jock/cheerleader thing, but I don't think it'll last even that long." It was Ron's turn to look surprised.

"Really, that short?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "I really think so. After all, Bonnie Rockwaller does not appreciate being ignored, and he's figured out it's not worth his time to bend to her every whim. She'll find an appropriately malleable guy on the food chain before the summer's out."

"Whoa, KP," Ron said with his hand out in a stop sign, "Easy on the big words there. What do you mean?"

Kim smiled. "She'll find some guy who'll do whatever she wants," she translated for him.

Ron laughed, then replied, "Yeah, OK. I knew that."

By this time, the couple had reached the end of the park, where they had split up countless times before to go to their respective homes. This time, though, they were having so much fun they decided to simply continue walking, hand in hand, as before. Finally, though, they reached the point where they absolutely had to split up.

Kim turned to her new boyfriend (oh how she loved saying that, even within the confines of her own mind) and said to him, "Ron, my parents want to have you over to dinner tonight."

Ron looked delighted, "Oh really? What's your mom making?"

At this Kim looked down and dragged her right foot behind her, "Well, that's the thing. She isn't cooking."

Ron looked a bit surprised, but still happy. "Oh, your dad's cooking out on the grill? I could do with some burger action."

Kim shook her head, sending her red hair swaying. "No Ron," she patiently and slightly embarrassedly explained, "Neither one of them is cooking. I am."

At this, Ron's jaw unhinged. "You're cooking, KP?" he asked, dumbfounded, "you who swears the mixer is worse than one of Drakken's plots? You're actually going to the kitchen to attempt to make something edible?"

"Ro-on!" she exclaimed, stamping her foot, "Don't make fun of me. I've been working really hard at it. I will make dinner for my family and my boyfriend, and it will be good. I can do anything, after all. And my mom will be there supervising me."

Ron visibly relaxed at this last comment. "Well, as long as your mom will be helping you," he answered, unconcerned, "everything should be at least decent. What time?"

"Six sound good to you?" Kim asked. Ron nodded his assent, so she continued, "See you then." The two turned to go back home when Kim spoke up, "Oh, and Ron?"

"Yeah, KP?" he asked as he turned around, only to be met with a juicy goodbye kiss. He simply smiled and kissed back.

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Ron knocked on the door to the Possible home, feeling rather apprehensive. The home itself was not enough to cause this apprehension; he literally could not count the number of times he had been here over the years. No, this was a fear every bit as palpable as when he and Kim had faced the latest villain; he was afraid of what havoc his girlfriend could wreak while in the kitchen. Kim and appliances did not get along, though she had marginally improved through careful tutoring from himself and her mother.

The door opened, and Ron was momentarily confused, as he saw no one behind it. His confusion disappeared the moment Jim and Tim came dashing out and attached a pair of what appeared to be modified booster rockets to his legs. He barely had time to think to himself, oh man, before one of the twins pressed a button on a remote control he was holding and his pants got launched somewhere in the stratosphere.

"Oh, man," said Jim.

"Sorry, Ron," said Tim.

"Boys," said the male Dr. Possible, in a tone Ron well recognized. He had been on the receiving end of it when he heard the "black hole deep" talk. "What have I told you about attaching rockets to people wanting to speak with us?" he asked the young twins.

"Not to," they intoned together, shuffling their feet.

"That's right," continued Dr. Possible. "Now go to your rooms until you can learn proper testing procedures." He then turned to a boxer clad Ron, standing on the doorstep, "Hello Ronald, we've been expecting you. Your backup pants are in the usual place, and then Kimmie-cub is hoping you'll help her with dinner. I apologize for Jim and Tim, they've been working on hard on an upgrade to those jetpacks you and Kimmie take on missions."

"Eh, no big, Mr. Dr. P," Ron answered. "The Ronster can handle losing his pants once in awhile, as long as he gets to flash his skills in the kitchen." He then strolled into the house, strutting as if he owned the world.

A quick change later, Ron strolled into the kitchen to see what damage his girlfriend had wrought. What he saw, though, surpassed his wildest dreams. He saw several pots, looking ready to burst, along with a whirlwind of mess on a counter loaded up with almost overflowing bowls of various sizes, all completely unattended. Ron was impressed.

"Oh hi, Ron," the female Dr. Possible said, "Glad you're here. Can you supervise Kimmie while I get everything ready in the other room?"

"No prob, Mrs. Dr. P," Ron answered. "This place looks like it's on the verge of disaster."

"Yeah," the older redhead replied, "She really is improving, isn't she? Go help, she's over there using the mixer." Ron looked over and noted with a satisfied grin that Kim was at least doing this one thing perfectly. A brief flashback to the mission at the cookie factory just made his grin grow.

"Ah, grasshopper, I see you have maintained your skill in my absence," he spoke in teaching tone when he came up behind her.

"Ron!" Kim yelled when she heard him speak, then whirled around and gave him a big hug while being careful not to touch him with her completely food covered hands. This moment of inattention to the mixer, though, resulted in some of the food getting splattered on Ron's face. "Um, whoops?" she chuckled, seeing the result of her lack of concentration.

Ron just licked his lips. "Hey, this is pretty good," he pronounced, producing a large smile from Kim. "OK, let's see what we can do to whip this meal together."

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Ron was helping himself to thirds when he noticed Kim was staring at him. "What?" he asked, wondering how this was any different than usual.

"Ron," Kim started in an inquiring tone, "does this mean that you like the meal that I made?" She gave him the sweetest look she possibly could short of the puppy-dog pout.

The blonde boy just grinned back at her in response, then resumed eating his dinner in a manner more akin to a vacuum. Kim took this as a yes, and gave him a dazzling smile before she heard her father speak with her mother.

"You know," the male Dr. Possible said in a vaguely annoyed tone, "I had to go through two extra layers of security today at work because of some break in at another lab. I don't get it, this was nowhere near here."

"You know, honey," the female Dr. Possible answered in a reasonable tone, "You do work with highly classified projects. The government wants its latest technology well protected, after all."

"Well, the stuff that got stolen wasn't anywhere near what we're producing," answered her husband, "and everyone knows that that lab is way behind when it comes to its security measures."

"Daddy," Kim cut in, "this other lab couldn't be a NASA lab, could it?"

"It was a NASA lab," her dad said in surprise. His eyes narrowed, "How did you know that?"

"Oh, we got called in about the break-in" Kim waved her hand dismissively, "no big. I was just looking for more information." At this last sentence, Kim got an idea, and pulled out her Kimmunicator.

"Hey Wade," she said, as soon as her young tech genius friend answered, "can you check on something for me?"

"Sure thing, Kim," he answered, "What's up?"

"I want you to see if any other labs have had break-ins or attempted break-ins. I need you to look deep and find any information that you can possibly dig up."

"OK," he said dubiously, "might take me a bit, though. Can I ask what this is all about?"

"I think I may have an idea about this latest villain," she said brightly. "We'll see what we can find first."

"Sounds good," Wade said. "I'll get back to you as soon as I find something."

"You rock, Wade." Kim then looked up at her boyfriend to find him flopped back on his chair, obviously completely stuffed. His naked mole rat was in even worse shape, laying out flat on the table, his belly sticking up almost as far as he was tall normally. Ron somehow found the wherewithal to lift his head up.

"Kim, this meal was the bom diggity," he said weakly. Kim could not help but grin from ear to ear.